


Leave Your Thug at Home Day

by MangaFreak15



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A Very Self-Indulgent Fic, Character name spelled as Jaeger, Established Relationship, Hint: it's the whole thing, Levi and Eren are dorks in love, M/M, Spot the cliche, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, accidental symbolism, artist Eren, the only thing that's filthy about Levi is his mouth, this is the corniest thing I've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 08:24:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14766023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MangaFreak15/pseuds/MangaFreak15
Summary: It's Art Appreciation Day at Eren's university, and he's excited to show off for his boyfriend. Some people (mainly Jean) are less excited after actually meeting said boyfriend.(Levi might be intimidating on the outside, but really, he’s just a giant marshmallow underneath that prickly exterior.)





	Leave Your Thug at Home Day

**Author's Note:**

> HI THERE. I just got off an 8-hr work shift like 2 hours ago. I hope you like this sappy, self-indulgent fic of mine that was created out of the deep, dark recesses of my mind. We all need some cavity-inducing rainbow fluff in our lives, right?
> 
> Not much in the way of plot, but enjoy Levi and Eren being dorks in love!
> 
> P.S. Spot the Harry Potter reference.
> 
> Edit 6/7: 100 kudos?! In less than 2 weeks?! Thank you so much!! ❤❤❤

Eren gazed about the bustling art gallery with a proud smile on his face. Around him, his peers were busy putting finishing touches on their displayed selections, the culmination of a year's worth of projects.

His own centerpiece was an enormous charcoal drawing roughly seventy-two by forty-eight inches. It had taken him several long months to lovingly and painstakingly render a full-body portrait of his boyfriend by hand, bare muscular arms crossed over his chest, hip cocked just so, smoky mascara lining the corners of his half-lidded gaze, long legs wrapped in sinfully-tight skinny jeans. He was leaning on his prized Harley-Davidson motorcycle, which was parked on the side of the street just off a busy intersection. A half-formed smirk curled around his lips, completing the sexy look.

It was a masterpiece. His art professor had nothing but praises for it. Even Jean had had to admit that Eren had outdone himself on this drawing.

Eren couldn’t wait to show Levi. It had been incredibly difficult to keep his boyfriend from seeing the product when it had been unfinished, but now that it was sprayed with fixative and hung on the wall for the world to see, he was excited.

After ensuring that his accompanying pieces were in place, the university student bounced off to check on how the others were doing.

Connie was busy fussing over the placement of his metal sculptures, Thomas was fretting over his watercolor paintings, Sasha was making sure that her installation wasn’t going to fall apart for the exhibit—why she shaped the installation in the form of a potato, Eren had no idea—Jean was frowning at his assorted woodblock prints, and Marco was examining the arrangement of his photographs on one of the walls.

Eren checked his phone: 11:57. Three more minutes until the gallery was open to the public.

Today was their university’s annual Art Appreciation Day. At the end of the academic year, every art student got to go through the pieces they had made over the course of the two semesters and select which ones they wanted to display in the school’s on-site gallery. It was an event that was heavily advertised by the university to not only attract visitors to the campus, but to bring the students’ work to public attention and help secure possible future sponsors for them. If the students wanted to sell their work, they would need to submit a form to the professor by the Friday of the week before the showing. There would be a few tables inside the gallery’s reception area where people could bid on the artwork they wanted to buy, if it was for sale.

Honestly, Eren was a _little_ bit nervous. He hadn’t put the portrait up for sale, but he also wouldn’t put it past his boyfriend to want to buy it anyways, even though Eren would one-hundred percent give it to him for free.

11:59.

All of the art students had to move away from their exhibits and to the lobby, where their professor waited to open the doors. Eren anxiously stuck his hands into his pockets to hide how sweaty they were getting from anticipation. Armin and Mikasa were both dropping by a little later because they had classes to attend (sociology and business, respectively), but he was expecting Levi to be there at twelve on the dot, like the zero-tolerance-for-bullshit businessman that he knew his boyfriend was.

He really hoped that Levi liked his work.

12:00.

The art professor signaled them to pull the metal double doors open.

As guests began to file into the gallery, their eyes roving around expectantly, chattering amongst themselves, some breaking off and mingling with the students, some hugging, some crying, some being dragged by the hand by excited younger siblings or cousins or whatever, Eren cast around for a glimpse of his boyfriend. He figured Levi was probably hanging back until the initial crowd got through; the man absolutely hated crowded places.

_You don’t know where those shitstains have been,_ Levi’s voice mockingly echoed through his head. _You want me to stand in the middle of a bunch of sweaty-ass people surrounded by mindless chatter and disgusting screaming brats with sticky fingers? Fuck that._

He snorted at his inner Levi voice.

“The fuck are you laughing about, brat?” Levi’s actual, gravelly voice cut through his daydream. He turned with a wide grin on his face.

“Levi! You made—it…” Eren’s voice abruptly died in his throat as he actually took in his boyfriend’s appearance.

_Oh fuck me._

Rather than the classy business suit outfit that Eren had been expecting him to come in, Levi was sporting a handsome black leather biker jacket outfitted over a crisp white button-up shirt, which had been left slightly unbuttoned at the top to give a teasing glimpse of his smooth, pale skin. A pair of dark-washed skinny jeans sat low on his hips, barely held up by a single studded black belt. His slim legs disappeared into a pair of shiny black ankle boots with criss-crossing buckles, completing the casual biker ensemble that Eren hadn’t even realized that Levi could pull off with such flair. He swallowed with difficulty, his mouth suddenly feeling drier than the Sahara desert.

Levi caught the look on his face and smirked, his steel-gray eyes hiding his amusement. “What’s that look for, Jaeger? Cat got your tongue?” he taunted.

“You look so hot,” Eren blurted out without preamble, his cheeks exploding with blood at his bold declaration. Compared to Levi, he actually felt underdressed in his red plaid shirt and ripped jeans and off-white sneakers.

He felt slightly better about himself when Levi’s face turned the slightest bit pink. “Whatever, let’s move on,” he muttered, walking away. Eren grinned and caught up to him with a few quick steps, swinging his hand out to grasp Levi’s. The shorter man shot him a hard glance, but didn’t let go, to Eren’s delight. The university student led the way into the first exhibition room, which featured most of the larger sculptural and installation pieces.

Which, of course, meant that Levi saw Sasha’s ‘potato’. His face automatically screwed up in disgusted horror as he commented, “What the hell is _that.”_

“A potato,” Eren snarked helpfully. He received a smack over the head for his cheekiness. “Okay, it’s not actually a potato. It’s an installation piece that’s supposed to bring attention to the amount of trash that we throw out daily.” The ‘potato’ shaped sculpture was comprised of bits of cardboard, pizza boxes, empty soda cans, takeout food containers, plastic bottles, plastic straws, crumpled chip bags, used tissues, and other parts that were carefully packed together to resemble a potato. Why a potato of all things, Eren still didn’t know, but it was definitely… unique.

“It’s made of _garbage._ Fucking disgusting,” Levi spat, steering clear of the offensive work. A mother who was standing behind them gave them an outraged look and tugged her child away.

Eren laughed and took his boyfriend to the other end of the room, where Connie’s metal sculptures posed on top of four clean white pillars. Levi had something to say about those, too.

“What the fuck is that supposed to be, a unicorn shitting rainbows out its ass?”

The university student almost had to stuff his fist into his mouth to keep himself from bursting out laughing, only managing to refrain because he knew Levi would immediately tell him to wash his hands.

“It’s supposed t-to be a m-mermaid,” he managed to wheeze out, shaking with suppressed tremors.

“Looks more like someone shit a bunch of metal on a brick and didn’t know what to do with it,” Levi added with disdain.

That’s it, Eren couldn’t take it anymore. He started laughing helplessly out loud, heedless of the stares he was attracting from other visitors. He saw the ghost of a smile pass over Levi’s face, and while he knew that it was mean of him to laugh so hard about someone basically insulting his friend’s work, he would also do anything to make Levi smile again.

“Come on, I want to see your work,” Levi said, striding forward, pulling Eren by the hand. “Where is it?”

Eren regained some control over himself long enough to tell him, “Patience, young Padawan, we’ll get there.”

Levi gave him his most unimpressed stare and said, “You did _not_ just use a Star Wars reference on me.”

The brunet was solemn for all of one second before he cracked and started laughing again. Levi shook his head as they walked into the next exhibit side by side, “You’re ridiculous, you brat.”

The next room featured Photography on one side and Printmaking on the other. Eren spotted Marco and Jean talking to each other next to Marco’s display, with Jean’s parents praising the freckled boy’s photographs. The taller boy caught sight of Eren and his boyfriend first.

“Yo, Eren! Who’s the midget?” Jean hollered as he took a few steps towards them, ignoring Marco’s frantic motions to stop. Eren winced on reflex, immediately tightening his grip on Levi’s hand so that the shorter man wouldn’t fly over and punch the horse in the face. He saw Jean’s mother slap an exasperated hand over her face and sympathized with her immensely.

Levi shot the taller university boy a murderous glare. “What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?” he spat through gritted teeth, attempting to yank his hand out of Eren’s grip. He turned his head partly to the side to growl, “Eren, let _go.”_

“Don’t kill him, we’re in public,” was all Eren said as he released Levi’s hand. Jean’s grin dropped as the man stalked over to him, all rippling muscle and intimidation like a particularly angry tiger. He rolled up the sleeves of both his leather jacket and his button-up, showing off his incredibly toned forearms. _Oh shit._ The sandy-haired university boy slowly tried to back away from that icy gaze.

“H-hey there, let’s chill and talk this out, o-okay?” he stammered, his hands partly raised in the air.

Levi’s hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of Jean’s navy-blue polo shirt, hauling him down so that they were face to face. Jean gulped, sweating nervously as he was pierced by those stormy gray eyes.

“If you ever fucking call me a midget again, I will kick your shitty ass so hard that you’ll be tasting your own intestines for fucking _weeks._ Got it, _Horseface?”_ Levi hissed menacingly at him. Jean nodded frantically. “Good. Now why don’t you run back to mommy and tell her what a sorry piece of trash you are.” He roughly pushed Jean away, making the tall art student stumble backwards as he tried to put as much distance between himself and the scary dude as possible.

Eren thought it was hilarious that Jean got his ass handed back to him by a guy who was literally half a foot shorter than him, but he’d never say that last part out loud. Levi wouldn’t hesitate to whoop his ass too, boyfriend or not.

“Son, you’ve really got to learn to think before you speak,” Mr. Kirschtein chastised his quaking son.

“Yeah, Jean, calling Eren’s boyfriend a midget was really rude,” Marco agreed, smiling blandly when Jean gave him a wide-eyed look and mouthed, _That’s his boyfriend?! Holy shit, he’s way scarier than he looks in the drawing!_

Levi twitched when he heard the M-word again, but considering it wasn’t directed at him this time, he decided to let it slide. Eren grinned widely at him when he returned to his side, effortlessly sliding their hands back together.

“I love it when you get all assertive on me, it’s hot,” he breathed, leaning over to give Levi a quick peck on the cheek. “I love you.”

Levi pinked. “Whatever, just stop it with the sappy shit,” he grunted, looking away from Eren’s earnest teal-green eyes. The brunet waited patiently as he pulled Levi over to look at the various prints displayed on the wall in the Printmaking section. He caught Levi’s quiet mumble a moment later, “Love you too, brat.”

Eren’s heart was fit to burst at the quiet declaration. A silly smile spread over his face anyways.

“Just so you know, this is Jean’s work right here,” he said cheerfully, gesturing to the woodblock prints taking over the right corner.

The businessman took a single, disinterested glance at the display and bluntly remarked, “Looks like horse shit on paper.”

Eren burst out laughing.

Across the room, Jean gave them the finger when his parents weren't looking.

 

000

 

After going through the other gallery rooms, with several rounds of Eren cracking up over Levi’s ‘critiques’ (“Way too much fucking yellow, what, is this some sort of pissing contest or something—”, “Looks like someone barfed paint on a canvas and called it a day—”, “I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a woman or a fucking toad—”), offending multiple families along the way, they finally arrived at Eren’s display.

The brunet tried hard not to fidget in place as Levi examined the enormous charcoal drawing of himself that Eren had worked so hard on. _What if he doesn’t like it? Is it too much to show him a drawing of himself? What if I got something wrong and his eyeliner is a millimeter off and he thinks it’s ugly? What if I got his motorcycle completely wrong?_ Eren thought frantically.

“Oi, brat.”

_What if he thinks I like the drawing better than him and that’s why I wouldn’t show him and that’s how I want him to be like and he doesn’t like me anymore?_

“Are you seriously spacing out right now? Oi. _Eren.”_

“Uhh?” Eren blinked as Levi flicked his forehead. “What?”

“Stop thinking so hard, idiot, I can hear you panicking,” Levi said, rolling his eyes. “It’s good, okay? You didn’t fuck up.”

“Oh.” Now he felt silly for thinking Levi would break up with him over a _drawing._ An undeniable warmth spread through the pit of his belly and warmed him from the inside out. He pressed a kiss to the top of Levi’s head. “Thanks.”

Levi huffed at him. “Did you put any of your shit up for sale?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did, but not that drawing,” Eren replied, smiling slightly as he rested his cheek on his boyfriend’s head. His hair was so soft.

He felt Levi shift beneath his head. “Why not? I bet that thing would sell for a lot.”

“Because I want you to have it,” Eren mumbled.

He did not expect Levi’s response, “The fuck? Why would I want a picture of myself?”

Eren pulled away to stare down at his boyfriend, who met his gaze with a slim, arched eyebrow. “You don’t want it?” he asked, a little bit of hurt bleeding into his voice. He had worked so hard on it and Levi was rejecting it, like he had feared.

The shorter man sighed harshly, “Shitty brat, I’m confident about myself, but I’m not a fucking narcissist.” Before the art student could begin to feel dejected, Levi tapped his knuckles against the corner of one of his other pieces. “I’d rather have this one.”

Eren looked at the one Levi was pointing at. It was much smaller, only eighteen by thirty inches. It was a mixed charcoal and pastel drawing depicting the two of them on a lakeside picnic, sitting beneath the shade of a large tree with Levi’s head comfortably nestled in Eren’s lap. Levi was reading a book, while Eren was gazing out across the lake with a peaceful smile on his face, one hand running through the longer strands of hair on Levi’s head. It wasn’t nearly as detailed as Eren’s centerpiece, and had really been more of an experiment on his part trying to meld a charcoal drawing with pastel colors. It wasn’t perfect, not like the portrait.

“Um, why this one?” he questioned, clearly perplexed.

Levi rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious? Do I really have to spell it out for you?” he griped, his fingers tightening slightly around Eren’s hand. The university student was still confused.

“I don’t understand,” he admitted.

His boyfriend took a deep breath through his nose, obviously getting a bit riled up. “You—oblivious little—ugh, fine, guess I have to drill this sappy shit into your head,” he muttered, turning so that they were fully facing each other. “Eren. I don’t want or need a picture of my own fucking self. I see that shit in the mirror every day. I want that other drawing because it has _you_ in it with me.”

Eren was struck speechless. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he just felt an immense wave of affection for the man standing in front of him and couldn’t help but lean down and kiss him at that very moment. Levi seemed to expect it though, because he didn’t fight it, just curled his fingers in the shorter hairs at the back of Eren’s neck.

When they finally broke apart, Eren rested his forehead against Levi’s, his hands gently cupping his boyfriend's face, and whispered against his lips, “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Every goddamn day.”

Eren chuckled, the vibrations settling pleasantly in Levi's chest, “Because I do.”

“Sappy brat,” Levi snorted without any real heat behind his words.

“Yeah, but I'm _your_ sappy brat,” Eren singsonged.

“Shut the fuck up and kiss me, Eren.”

They ended up getting kicked out by the Art Department Head for public indecency (“Keep it in your pants, Jaeger!” “Sorry, Ms. Rico.”)

But once the exhibition was over and the art auction completed, Eren went to collect what was left of his work. Only the giant charcoal drawing and the lakeside piece remained, having been the only ones that Eren hadn’t put on his ‘to sell’ list. He looked thoughtfully at his masterpiece, which was now partially bathed in orange light from the sunset peeking through the windows near the ceiling. Well, Levi didn’t want it, and Eren had to admit to himself that he would rather gaze at his living, breathing boyfriend than a piece of art any day.

He donated it to the school.

The lakeside drawing was framed and hung in the living room of their shared apartment. It was an experimental piece, neither perfect nor without error, and sometimes the charcoal seemed too dark and the pastels too bright.

But so too were they a work in progress in their imperfect relationship, and together their union proved far greater than either of them alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment before you go~


End file.
